


the nevers and maybes

by corset



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, it's ladrien folks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-21
Updated: 2016-01-21
Packaged: 2018-05-15 08:52:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5779417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/corset/pseuds/corset
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"After patrol, ladybug catches adrien sneaking back into his own house at night" - prompt fill from tumblr. Oneshot. Ladrien.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the nevers and maybes

**Author's Note:**

> this prompt was from theywaitforshewho on tumblr & was a lot of fun to write.

Patrol for the night has been uneventful for Ladybug - no akuma, plenty of flirting to shrug off, and too many puns for her head to handle. She’s perhaps a little bit too grateful when Chat agrees to call it a night - but hey, she’s a busy young woman who wants to attempt getting to class on time tomorrow.

She waits until Chat is out of sight before heading off on her own route home - she’d hate if she saw him detransform. As she always does, she slows down slightly as she passes the Agreste Mansion. It gives her a sense of calm, or serenity to know that _Adrien is in there_ , and she’s helping to keep it safe for him. (If only he’d notice her!)

It doesn’t take her long to realize that something’s amiss, spotting a flash of movement by a window. There shouldn’t be anyone awake at this time of night! Dutifully, she goes to investigate - she tells herself that it’s her job to make sure all the citizens of Paris are safe, and this _certainly_ isn’t an excuse to catch a glimpse of the boy who has besotted her heart.

She isn’t quite sure what she was expecting, but it certainly isn’t this.

But there he is, Adrien Agreste, sneaking into his house well past midnight. It isn’t her business - it’s not, Adrien can do whatever he likes, she doesn’t have any claim over him (although she wishes she did). Still, she can’t deal with the overwhelming curiosity regarding the situation. Tikki might tell her that searching for answers would be a bad idea; but Tikki’s in her miraculous and can’t be her impulse control.

A moment later, she finds herself swinging towards his window and gently tapping on it. (Why does she do this to herself? This is a mistake, such a mistake, and she can’t believe she’s doing this. She hopes that he doesn’t hear her so she can just leave and - oh. Oh no.)

Adrien glances up towards the window - was someone there? - and feels his heart skip a beat when he sees who is there. He’s more than a little bewildered - why is she there? Does she know he’s Chat Noir? (Would it be so terrible if she does?)

“L-ladybug?” he asks

“That’s my name,” She jokes, trying to keep her composure. He’s seen her, he’s _interacting_ with her, so she supposes there’s no turning back now. (And he looks so perfect, as always, standing there with the sun in his hair). “Don’t wear it out now!”

“What are you doing here?”

“Well, uh, I was on patrol - it just ended - but I thought I might have seen something over here. I came to see that it’s safe.” (It’s not a complete lie - she did see something, except that she very well knew what it was. But it wasn’t her place to pry, no matter how much she ached to know.)

“I think it’s safe here.” He says, shifting towards her. He can’t help it, she’s in front of him and he wants to be as physically near to her as possible, even if he doesn’t have the flirty comforts of being behind a Mask. 

He’s surprised when she lets out the softest of gasps and widens her eyes, but doesn’t back away. In fact, he swears that she moves closer, too. It makes him giddy, but he also feels a pang in his heart - why doesn’t she treat Chat like this? What’s so great about Adrien that she would respond like this to him, even though it’s all so sudden, even though she didn’t know him? It makes no sense, but it also makes no sense that Ladybug is in his room and oh god, they’re having a _moment_. He decides he must have hit his head on the windowsill and is stuck in a reverie.

She wants to kiss him - oh, how _desperately_ she wants to kiss him! He’s right in front of her, mere inches away from her face. By the look he’s giving her - eyes wide, lips slightly parted - she has a feeling that he wants this, too. Or maybe she’s lying to herself to give herself a reason to just kiss him, but really - she’s hidden away behind a mask right now, she could kiss him and he would never know it was her. 

She could kiss her crush by his window under the light of the moon and the glow of city, and not deal with the embarrasing consequences - oh, how she wants to.

She starts to lean in, just a tad. She wants to, but it would be wrong - really wrong. He has no idea who he’d be kissing. It wouldn’t really count, would it? Just like that almost-kiss that Alya had pushed her into when they were working on the class film. She doesn’t miss the way he starts to lift his hand, as if he’s prepared to caress her. It’s everything she’s ever wanted and more, but it’s not how she wants it.

She stops herself. She stops him, pushing his hand away.

“We shouldn’t do this.”

Adrien lets outs a soft sigh, trying not to blush. Ladybug - _his_ Ladybug! - had been a miniscule moment away from kissing him. He can’t bring himself to believe that he’s not dreaming - there’s no way that the love of his life can just waltz into his room unexpectedly and almost kiss him.

“I want to.” He says, voice just below a whisper. She’s _right there_ and he can just imagine the gentle brush of her lips against his (even though he knows, deep down, that it _wouldn’t be right_ , that she has no idea that he’s the idiot in a catsuit she rejects every time their paths cross.)

“Me too,” She says. “But it wouldn’t fair - you don’t know who I really am.”

She frowns and turns away - he has a thought to move forward, grab her, spin her around and pull her in for kiss, but he doesn’t. She’s right, she’s right and it _kills him_. He doesn’t care that he has no idea who she is behind the mask; but he can’t imagine his lady being particularly pleased if she learned he was Chat Noir most nights. He can’t betray her trust like that, so he lets her go. He smiles sadly to himself as she waves goodbye, swinging off on her yo-yo.

She is so beautiful, and he can’t help but stare at her with that love-struck grin as she departs. _She_ almost kissed _him_! He’s going to be walking on air for days, even if Plagg won’t let him live the missed opportunity down.


End file.
